In many ways, Wing Jone is the book that I’ve been searching for for half my life. (I’m in my mid-twenties, so that’s not an exaggeration.) See, I’m of biracial descent. Even though I’ve sought books with biracial protagonists all my life, I’ve come across very few. Combine that with sports, one of my many passions, and odds of finding such a book plummet to near zero. Then Wing Jones came along and that book made my heart sing.

Before A Quiet Kind of Thunder, I had never read a book involving a character with selective mutism, nor a character who is deaf. It didn’t occur to me previously that I hadn’t until I had the opportunity to review this book. I was a little unsure if I would like it because it’s primarily a romance novel. On the flip side, Sara Barnard wrote this and I really enjoyed her debut, Beautiful Broken Things, so I was still curious.

This book does not live up to the preceding Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares. I’ve listened to the audiobook, and reread the paperback. I’m sure I’ll reread it again in future. The Twelve Days of Dash & Lily, however, is a book I most likely won’t revisit. It’s neither quirky nor charming — the very reasons I enjoy Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares. These elements went completely missing in this long-awaited sequel.

With Malice kept me up at night because I couldn’t sleep without knowing how it would end. Of course, the job of a psychological thriller is to keep readers up long after everyone’s gone to sleep, so it should be the expectation when picking up such a book.